The Economic Affairs Division (EAD) and Neelum Jhelum Hydropower Project Company (NJHPC), on Monday signed Subsidiary Loan Agreement that was a legal requirement to make the loan agreement between Kuwait and Pakistan effective.
A loan agreement amounting to dollars 40 million was signed between Pakistan and Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) on 25 November 2010 for the purpose of construction of Neelum Jhelum Hydropower Project. "Signing a subsequently Subsidiary Loan Agreement between EAD on behalf of the government of Pakistan and NJHPC, a subsidiary of Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda), was a legal requirement to make the loan agreement effective," EAD Secretary Abdul Wajid Rana said.
The agreement was signed by EAD Secretary Abdul Wajid Rana and NJHPC Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Lieutenant General Muhammad Zubair (Retd). The Neelum Jhelum Hydropower Project is located at Muzaffarabad district of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and upon its completion it will generate approximately 1,000 MW of electricity.
KFAED is one of the donors of this project, the other donors are Exim Bank China, UAE and Saudi Fund for Development. The project is aimed at developing the National Power Generation System to meet the increasing electricity demand in the country and indigenous renewable energy resources ie the hydro resources.
Speaking on the occasion, EAD Secretary said that negotiation with China were also going on for the funding of the project and expressed the hope that with the release of dollars 40 million, the cash flow issue would be resolved to a great extent. On the occasion, the NJHPC's CEO said that 36 percent of the work on the project had been completed. He said the Tunnel Boring Machine (TBN) had also reached Pakistan which would reach the cite project within 20 days. He said that after completion of NJHPP, the machine would be utilised in other projects.
He said the cost of the project had been increased up to dollars 330 billion due to depreciation in rupee value against dollar and several other market issues. He said that when completed, the project would generate Rs 45 billion. Speaking on the occasion, Water and Power Secretary Imtiaz Qazi said that government was focusing on development of hydel and coal power projects.
He said that owing to high energy cost and shortage of gas, the thermal electricity was getting out of reach and that was why the government was paying heed towards developing hydel and coal projects. He said that with the inclusion of additional power in the national grid system, the power shortage crisis would be overcome within three years. He said Pakistan was also engaged in negations with central Asian countries to import electricity, adding that a Pakistani delegation was in Almaty at present to discuss the import of power from the Central Asian countries.
Comments
Comments are closed.